Are my tires shot or still ok?

[jimmy buoy]

Finding that my car is pulling slightly to the right so I decide to take it to the local tire shop for an alignment. It's been 2yrs since the last alignment.

Upon arrival, the front desk sales guy goes out to take a quick look at the car and quickly looks at the tires and heads back in to discuss. "Well, all your tires are bald. Totally shot... so I can do the alignment and balancing but it will really be a waste of money for you." I was surprised since I really didn't think the Continental Pro-Contact TX's were that bad, but really didn't take a close look. I replaced the rears 2yrs ago and have about 12000 miles on them. The fronts probably have about 24000 miles. The next logical thing to do was ask for a price to replace the tires which he did and suggested Michelin Pilots for $1535 out the door. I asked about Continental Extreme's but he said they'd only be about $150 less and I'd be disappointed at the ride compared to Michelin.

I said I'd consider it so he gave me a printed quote. After leaving, I closely inspected the tires. See the photos below.

Rear Passenger Side...



Rear Driver's Side...



Front Passenger Side...



Front Driver's side...


I welcome your opinions as to the condition of the tread on these tires.

Thanks all!

 

[princelybug]

Don't go back to that tire shop. You have PLENTY of life in both rear tires.

 

[jimmy buoy]

Thanks for the response. I'm having some issues getting the two photos of the front tires... working on it!

Don't go back to that tire shop. You have PLENTY of life in both rear tires.

 

[EdP]

Yes, not only are the tires shot, your roof is about to start leaking and crab grass will overtake your lawn. Just assign your life savings to me and I'll get started with avoiding doom.

The rear passenger side clearly shows the wear indicator is still recessed. I don't see it on other photos either. Find a reputable shop.

 

[jimmy buoy]

Proper photos of the fronts now in the post

 

[EdP]

Proper photos of the fronts now in the post

Getting low but the wear indicators are not flush yet. Keep any eye on them. If I was in snow territory I may opt to replace them soon.

 

[jimmy buoy]

Yes, not only are the tires shot, your roof is about to start leaking and crab grass will overtake your lawn. Just assign your life savings to me and I'll get started with avoiding doom.

The rear passenger side clearly shows the wear indicator is still recessed. I don't see it on other photos either. Find a reputable shop.

Thanks Ed! Just wondered if I was missing something obvious here. Even my wife said "she's seen BALD tires before and these aren't what she'd call bald. Still, they did their job and got her second guessing if we should be driving this car as is. Really, I was taken back by his statement. Bald, and totally shot??

 

[jimmy buoy]

Getting low but the wear indicators are not flush yet. Keep any eye on them. If I was in snow territory I may opt to replace them soon.

We're in Fort Myers for the rest of the winter so snow shouldn't be a problem (even though the ol' mercury has dipped a bit lately). My thoughts were that the front's were getting close, but still aren't "bald and totally shot".

Thanks for your comments!

 

[EdP]

We're in Fort Myers for the rest of the winter so snow shouldn't be a problem (even though the ol' mercury has dipped a bit lately). My thoughts were that the front's were getting close, but still aren't "bald and totally shot".

Thanks for your comments!

Got down to 33 at my house last night. You should have no problem the rest of winter. Take a look before heading north since you have some distance.

 

[jimmy buoy]

Got down to 33 at my house last night. You should have no problem the rest of winter. Take a look before heading north since you have some distance.

Looks like a warming trend is coming in a couple of days. Hopefully. Still beats temps in Canada!

Thinking that maybe I should replace the fronts now but I'd have to go with the same tires to match tread. Was hoping to wait and replace all 4 next year with Continental Extreme Contacts so that would mess up that plan. The fronts last twice as long as the rears.
Another question is regarding the AWD system. Would you think it could be jeopardize the AWD system to have new tires on the fronts with the existing tires on the rears being that they aren't full tread? I've heard the system can be unforgiving with a mix of new and worn tires on the car. Thoughts?

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[Scott A]

FYI, Continentals, at least the ones i had on my sedan do not last long. I got about 24k mileage. Cooper makes a nice Touring tire, CS5 or something like that, with a 70k mile warranty. Those seemed like they would go 40 to 50k before undue wear. Discount Tire has them.

Too bad they dont make them for the G90....

 

[Andyj]

Rears are fine fronts not so much. Sounds like that tire guy wanted to sell you 4 gold plated Michelins for $1500 plus. I do like the Michelin Pilot sport and all season tires and depending on size you should be able to get a set for closer to $1200.

 

[jimmy buoy]

Rears are fine fronts not so much. Sounds like that tire guy wanted to sell you 4 gold plated Michelins for $1500 plus. I do like the Michelin Pilot sport and all season tires and depending on size you should be able to get a set for closer to $1200.

Thanks for your take on this. I agree, the fronts are close but they wear at least half as quickly as the rears.

From the replies so far, it would appear the consensus is that the tire guy is full of crapola and trying to sell me on "overinflated" tires.

There are two issues with just replacing the front two.
First, it may be a problem with the AWD system on the car since the new tires will have more tread than the rear. Apparently if it is more than 1/4" taller it can get the system thinking that the back tires are constantly slipping and engage the AWD to correct which may damage the clutches. Can't really measure that until ordering the tires.
Second, I really wanted to get away from these ProContact TX's and move to the Extreme Contact tires which have a higher load rating for this heavy vehicle along with longer tread life. This would really delay that move since the fronts outlast two sets of rears. I'd be into another set of rears before the fronts wear out.
Third, the cost of replacing all tires with the Extreme's is $1030 vs the cost of replacing just the front ProContact's is around $600.

I don't think the fronts are unsafe, just not sure how many more miles before they get to that point.

 

[ckon]

Dumb q, but do you rotate your tires every 5k or so? I wouldn't expect that amount of difference in wear with scheduled rotation.

 

[jimmy buoy]

Dumb q, but do you rotate your tires every 5k or so? I wouldn't expect that amount of difference in wear with scheduled rotation.

No rotations since the tires are a staggered setup with wider ones on the rear wheels for the 5.0 Genesis. Rotating on the same axel side to side would offer little gain since the fronts get more wear from cornering while the rears get more wear evenly across the tread. I don't like the idea of reversing the rotation of tires either since even with non-directional tires it can cause issues.

Keep in mind that the fronts have been there while this is the second set of rear tires. The rears wear faster since that's the car's main driving force (unless it detects slippage) most of the time.

 

[ckon]

No rotations since the tires are a staggered setup with wider ones on the rear wheels for the 5.0 Genesis. Rotating on the same axel side to side would offer little gain since the fronts get more wear from cornering while the rears get more wear evenly across the tread. I don't like the idea of reversing the rotation of tires either since even with non-directional tires it can cause issues.

Keep in mind that the fronts have been there while this is the second set of rear tires. The rears wear faster since that's the car's main driving force (unless it detects slippage) most of the time.

Oops - forgot they are staggered.

 

[jimmy buoy]

Thanks for your comments guys.

Just to wrap this up, I've decided to bite the bullet and ordered Continental Extreme Contacts from Tire Rack to replace the current tires and using one of their preferred installers near me. I will be keeping the rear pair of Continentals since they still have quite a bit of life left and plan to sell them here in Fort Myers via Craigslist. If anyone is in the area and wants a decent pair of ProContact TX 275/35 19's let me know. I'm listing the pair for $100 once they are removed (probably later this week).